


Smalltown Boy

by saturdays_child



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 04:16:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12975684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturdays_child/pseuds/saturdays_child
Summary: Two years ago, Steve Harrington got wrapped up in something he wouldn’t wish upon even his worst enemies, for the second year in a row. One and a half years ago, Steve graduated from Hawkins High School.  One year ago, Steve moved, praying that he would be able to pretend it never happened, even if it meant leaving everyone he loved behind. Last night, Steve had a nightmare that he couldn’t quite shake off when he woke. To be fair, though, it wasn’t the first.





	Smalltown Boy

**Author's Note:**

> A single ~ indicates that its a time jump, but still the same day/night, or within a few hours. Two of them means its a different day. Also, sorry its so short, hopefully I'll get better at that.

They always started off the same. Him, standing in the middle of a railway surrounded by orange woods. Nancy, a few yards in front of him. No matter how many times this dream played out, no matter how useless he knew it was, he would walk towards her. As always, she stood there and waited for him, a small smile etched on her face. At just an arm's length away from her, the sky itself would flicker. Any closer and he knew vines would grow and cold would surround him until he found himself in the vast tunnels under Hawkins, hopelessly lost, Nancy nowhere to be found. If he stood slightly away, just within safety, Nancy would eventually get bored of waiting and turn to find herself in Jonathan’s arms, Steve frozen to the spot for what seemed like days until he woke up. That, Steve dared to say, was worse than being lost.  
~  
He just felt so… weak. The last he’d heard from them, the only other kid who had the same nightmares as him was Will, and he had an excuse. He had gone through a thousand times more than Steve. When he thought about it, he himself had gone through the least, and yet here he was, hiding under his covers like a toddler, afraid of what was staring at him through the dark of the bedroom. Deep down he knew that nothing was there, that he was just psyching himself out, but he just couldn’t bring himself to face it. After laying perfectly still for what seemed like an hour, he peaked his head out just enough to see his alarm clock on his nightstand. It’s neon-red lights read 4:23, and Steve sighed. The sun wouldn’t rise for a good two hours.  
After a couple minutes of contemplation, he slowly reached his hand down to the side of his bed where an old bat impaled with multiple nails rested in the small space between the bedframe and the nightstand. Taking deep breaths and counting to three, then five, he lept from under the covers and fucking booked it out the door and into the kitchen. Scrambling for the light switch near the toaster, he managed to knock over and shatter a glass he’d left out. Once the light was on, he relaxed visibly, surveying each corner of the room before carefully stepping around the broken glass to find a broom. Now that he was up and moving, the fear that had frozen him was all but gone, and as soon as all the glass was off the floor, he started to make himself a cup of coffee.  
~  
A loud clap jerked Steve awake, a plastic bag sticking to his face. He looked up wearily to see his manager staring disappointedly down at him. “Geez Steven, this is the third time this week.” Steve hurriedly stood up from his position cuddled with packaged hamburger buns. “Sorry sir, it’s just, I didn’t get much sleep last night.” He looked awkwardly around, scratching the back of his neck. “That’s what you said the last five times, buddy.” He manager commented. He shook his head slowly in thought. “I like you Steve, I do, but you can’t keep doing this.” Steve started, suddenly filled with panic at the thought of being fired. Just as he opened his mouth to promise to work harder, the manager said “Listen, Christmas is coming up, and you haven’t asked for any time off, but I think it’d do you some good. Go home for the holidays, get yourself onto a normal sleep schedule, and then after New Years we’ll see about this job.” Steve exhaled, eyes open wide, before quickly relaxing and saying “Yeah, yeah, that would be good.” His manager nodded and patted his shoulder. “Maybe you should take the rest of today off as well.” Steve barely mumbled a quick ‘thanks’ before he was out the door and into his car.  
Once at home, he sat with his chin on his arms, staring at his phone. He was debating whether or not to call his parents. On the plus side, he wouldn’t be alone for the second year in a row, as he hadn’t made any new friends since he moved. On the down side, he feared the nightmares would get much worse if he went back to the town where it all began. The more he thought about it though, the more he missed everything, and the more he wondered if they missed him. Slowly, his daydream drifted into a real dream.

Hawkins, Steve realized, was beautiful. It felt like home. It was home. Why did he leave? He found himself wandering, his feet leading him through the town, following all his fondest memories. He smiled as he remembered, almost seeing the ghost of them playing out before him. After walking through the entire town, he found himself finding memories in the outskirts. The suburbs where the Henderson’s live came into view, and he remembered how much he liked the boy. Now lost completely in thought, he continued walking. He was walking with a ghost of Dustin, the first time he had really connected with the boy, giving him silly relationship advice, which had turned out pretty useless in the end. Blinking, he realized where he was. A railway, surrounded by an orange forest. Dread filled his belly as he saw a familiar head of brown hair tied into a messy bun a few metres away. Great. He walked forwards, the memory of Dustin long having disappeared, and shuddered as the nightmare began to play out as usual. Five feet away from Nancy, he stopped. He felt something compelling him forward, as it always did if he tried to do anything different. He took a small step forwards, and Nancy smiled. Another step, and Nancy began to extend her arm towards him. This time, he didn’t move. His body wanted him to, was begging him to, but he didn’t. Instead, he forced himself to turn around. He tried to walk back the way he came, but instead, his feet were stuck firmly to the ground. Every fiber in his body was trying to get him to turn back around, but he fought hard to stay facing the direction he was. Suddenly, he felt a breath at the back of his neck and heard a familiar voice whisper in his ear, “Finally learned to plant your feet, huh Pretty Boy?”


End file.
